


Rispy's Decision

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: For Order and Justice [11]
Category: Geneforge, Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cybernetics, Cyborgs, Drama, Gen, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-20
Updated: 2007-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rispy wants to become a Star Knight, and winds up having to deal with his vampirism in an unconventional way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rispy's Decision

Rispy returned to Epsilon Station with his ghouls, his account neatly padded out with a reward from the Empress for capturing the pirates and putting an end to their extortion ring. Nevermind that it wasn't even his own doing that led to their capture, and she had to have known that, being a telepath herself. No, he was quite grateful to Kalli for coming to his rescue unexpected and unhoped for, otherwise he feared he would still be imprisoned down in the scum's basement. 

They headed back to their quarters, and Rispy settled in at a terminal to start looking up what information he could find on the 'net about the Star Knights. From what he read, even if it weren't being led by Kalli, he would think it were exactly the sort of thing he'd want to be involved in. Fighting for peace, justice, and order, to oppose slavery, piracy, crime, and atrocities... He had no hesitation about sending his own application to join. It reminded him a little of the Awakened, the group of serviles he'd once belonged to back at home. 

He hadn't even had a chance to get up to head off and check on other things before he got a reply back on it. Eagerly hopeful, he opened the message, seeing that it was from Kalli. "I'm sorry, Rispy, but I can't allow you to join, much as I would like to." 

His heart sunk as he stared at the words on the screen. He had no idea why she would refuse him, but just one thing came to mind as he sent back a reply. "Is it because I'm a vampire?" 

When Rispy had first encountered the vampires, he had had nothing to go on at the time. His own world of Terrestia had had no vampires, nor even myths and legends about them. At first, it had seemed that being a vampire was a great thing, with great benefits, albeit with great drawbacks as well. These past months he had been searching fruitlessly for some way around the entire sunlight issue, but while he had come across the concept of a 'true vampire', the method for becoming such was well hidden. As time wore on, the benefits from being a vampire seemed a little superfluous, as one could attain the same and more from cybernetics, without the drawbacks. 

The reply back from Kalli came promptly enough. "Yes," she wrote. "I hate to have to do it, as I think you would be an excellent Knight, but it would not go over well in some circles, in particular our new allies. It'll be well enough to manage to convince them that the vampires in this galaxy are mostly harmless, nevermind admit any into our ranks." 

Rispy sighed at the message and took to his feet, pacing a bit thoughtfully before returning to the terminal. He certainly wasn't loyal enough to Talia for that. There had to be some way. And, he suspected, in this instance, even true vampirehood would probably not be sufficient. Some sort of cure, perhaps? Possible, but not likely. 

His musings led him back to thinking about cybernetics and bringing up some data on it over his terminal. He could not see how cybernetics would be affected by vampirism, so he thought, if he replaced his entire body with cybernetics, would he still technically be a vampire? Hmm, no, from the data he found, most such procedures, although rarely performed, left the brain intact, which probably wouldn't suffice as it would still be infected most likely. Except one... 

Curiously, Rispy brought up whatever information he could find on the luminite-conversion cyborg that had been developed at Tijuana Colony. Or apparently, not so much developed as stumbled upon mostly by accident. The details on how it was accomplished weren't given, but it did explain that the soul was transformed into a chunk of crystal and none of the original body was used in the final construction. 

There weren't any prices given for the procedure, but he guessed that it would likely be very expensive. He had built up a sizeable account between his work for the Empress as well as for the design of the reaper baton, which the Cybions had paid him quite well for. It had been a good deal, really, as they promised him an unlimited supply of ammunition on top of it. He didn't know what they were doing with the batons, but he figured it likely that they were being sold for a fair price to people wanting an exotic, powerful weapon that didn't happen to register as a weapon by most sensors. If that proved insufficient, he figured that his ship would get an excellent price on the open market if necessary. 

Well, he figured, it was going way out on a limb for it, but it would be worth it. He didn't figure Kalli would still refuse him after that, but even if she did, it would be a great improvement over his current situation. While he liked his original body, the drawbacks just weren't worth it. 

First, however, he had to deal with his ghouls. He sighed a bit, as he had a good deal more loyalty toward them than to Talia, much as she might hate to admit. He'd never liked the situation that he'd been forced into and the poor choice he had been given. He called them back into the main room and looked them over. 

"Paul, Jacob, Colin," he said, pacing a bit in front of them. "You've been a great asset to me over the last several months. But the time has come to let you go. You're free to do as you will, if you want to join up with the Empress, or the Primos, or whatever. I don't care." 

"You're just abandoning us?" Paul said, raising an eyebrow. 

Rispy sighed softly, bringing to mind an image of the Shapers and how the serviles had felt that they had abandoned them on Sucia Island. "I am not your master. I am not your father. You are free, adult humans and need no one else to speak for you or be responsible for you. Go with my blessing, wherever you might choose to go." 

After checking the time at Tijuana Colony, he gathered up his belongings and headed out of the room, feeling a little guilty about it all. But what else could he do? There were few things he despised more than blind servitude, and well enough that they had gone into it by their own choice, but he wasn't about to take that choice from them now. Rispy boarded his Darknova and headed out of the docking bay of Epsilon Station, and set a course for Tijuana Colony. 

* * *

It was midnight in the city of Tijuana Colony when Rispy came in to land. He ignored the odd looks some of the people around gave him, and headed to the nearest terminal to look up where he could find Lisa Fadger, the contact listed for the luminite cyborg design. After a bit of searching, he found her in one of the labs in the northern part of the colony. 

"Ah, hello there," Fadger said, glancing up from some contraption she was working on. "I'm Lisa Fadger, head scientist of Tijuana Colony. What can I do for you?" 

"Yes, hello, my name is Rispy," he introduced himself. "I was looking into the information you had posted on luminite-conversion cyborgs you had designed? What sort of prices could I expect if I wanted something like that?" 

"Oh, the procedure isn't for sale to the general public yet," Fadger replied. "We still need to do more testing to ensure the stability of the system in the long run." 

Rispy sighed. He knew it was too good to be true, but he wasn't about to just give up at that. "I'm perfectly willing to trust myself to a beta version," he said wryly. "I intend to join the Star Knights, however Kalli won't take me because I'm a vampire." 

"Oh, I see," Fadger replied. "You know Kalli May?" 

"Yes, she's the one who brought me here to this universe," Rispy replied. 

"Well, that's different, then. Hmm, and that's a very interesting ship you have out there, too. Where did you get it? We don't have nexal-drive fighters on sale on the open market yet, either." 

"Suzcecoz upgraded my ship for me while I was docked at Torn Elkandu," he explained. 

"Oh, wow, yours is one of the originals?" 

"Yes," Rispy replied. "Look, I can pay, I've got money, and I can sell my ship if need be as well." He pulled out his credit chip and showed her his account. 

"Hmm," Fadger mused thoughtfully. "I wouldn't normally say that's quite enough for the procedure, however we don't need your ship and would rather the design not go on the open market just yet. So therefore, I think we'll take what you have and waive any additional fees on the condition that your ship's drive design remain in the hands of Tijuana Colony and the Star Knights." 

"Right, I can do that," Rispy assured her, not even bothering to wonder why they wanted to restrict access to that technology because he _knew_ it was highly advanced and powerful, and in the wrong hands it would make tracking down pirates and other scum far more difficult. 

"Alright then, come this way," Fadger said, gesturing him down one of the corridors toward a different lab. "I am uncertain as to how the procedure will interact with your vampiric condition, as I have yet to test such a subject, however I believe you are likely correct in the assumption that there's no way you could remain a vampire afterward due to the level of conversion involved. Now, what sort of features would you like included in the design?" 

She gestured to a terminal that helpfully brought up a number of available options. Rispy looked over the list diligently and proceeded to plan his ideal body, thoughtfully selecting different aspects of the design while Fadger made preparations for the procedure. He grew quite excited over the various options, but there were a few things he had to ask about first just so that he knew what he was getting into. 

"I understand that it's not fully tested yet, but what are the known drawbacks of the luminite model so far?" 

"Well, while it does still allow access to psychic powers via its own connection to the Ethereal Plane, it does so in a slightly different manner from a living -- or I suppose undead -- being, and we are not quite certain just how yet," Fadger explained. "It should not prove much of a problem, besides the fact that you probably won't register on most scans as a cyborg at all but as a robot." 

"I'll presume the luminite itself acts as a power source for the cybernetic body as well?" Rispy said. "Anything else I should know about it?" 

Fadger proceeded to ramble off a long stream of technobabble which Rispy barely caught a tenth of. "Aside from that," she said when she was finished, "You shouldn't have any problems with it." 

"Right..." Rispy said, snickering softly and finishing up going over the options. He didn't think that the final design would exactly have the supernatural speed Alistair had displayed, but it would still be quite fast and agile, while still being much stronger and more durable than any normal human or servile. "I think this will do. There anything important I might have forgotten?" 

"Hmm," Fadger replied, looking over the selections. "You've got all the basics in there, sensors, recording, data storage, communications links and such. Interesting choices on the auxilliary systems, but it should prove quite effective for the field you're getting into. I have the soul converted prepped and standing by, so step onto this platform when you're ready. Set your weapons aside first, though, as they might interfere with the procedure." 

"Alright," Rispy said, removing his weapon belt with his blaster and reaper baton and setting it on a nearby table before climbing up on the indicated platform. 

"I'll wake you when we're finished," Fadger said. "It might take a while to complete the full body, but you'll be fairly unconscious for that, so don't worry about it. Ready?" 

Rispy chuckled softly at the lack of reassurance, and he gave a nod and said, "Ready." 

Fadger flipped a switch to activate the device, causing lights to flare up around Rispy. Excrutiating pain the likes of which he had never felt before in his life ripped through his body, and he thought he must be screaming at the intense agony. Mercifully, however, it was not long before everything went black. 

* * *

Rispy wasn't sure how long it was when he woke up, as there were no windows in the lab, but he was definitely feeling more than a little disoriented. Every fiber of his being felt strange and a little numb. Reflexively he blinked, peering about the room slowly and flexing his fingers compulsively. 

Fadger was standing at his head, and said to him, "Excellent, you're awake. How do you feel? The procedure seems to have gone well enough so far as I can tell, however I will need your input on it as well. I'm afraid you're the first one I've actually performed myself, besides my own accidental conversion, so the testing will be most valuable." 

Rispy smirked a bit, figuring that might well have been part of the reason for the 'discount' as well, and he said, "I feel... alright, I think." Everything did seem to be working more or less properly, and when he tried to do things they did what he intended, even if it did feel really, really strange and disorienting. 

"Hmm, yes, I imagine it'll be a little disorienting for you at first, you can imagine it was definitely for me, and I wasn't even expecting it. You'll get used to it, don't worry," Fadger said reassuringly. 

"Thanks," Rispy said, tentatively climbing to his feet. 

"Careful, it might take a bit to get used to--" Rispy proceeded to almost fall over, but Fadger caught him. 

"Yeah, so I see," Rispy replied, chuckling softly. He just leaned against the table for the moment and looked down at himself. Aside from knowing that it was all mechnical, he looked just the same as he always had, although Fadger had dressed him only in a loose robe at the moment. 

Fadger was looking over readouts from his systems, and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to keep you here for observation for a bit, and you no doubt need some practice with the new systems as well." 

"Right, of course," Rispy said. "Is the conversion to luminite always quite so painful?" 

Fadger looked at him oddly and said, "No, it wasn't for me or for Sharra as far as I know. Perhaps it was a side effect of your previous condition. Interesting." She proceeded to rattle off some technobabble theories which he sighed and ignored. 

He checked the chronometer, and said, "Do you mind if I go outside? I would like to see the sun again, with my own eyes. Even if they aren't really my own eyes..." 

"Heh, they are now," Fadger replied with a chuckle. "Let's go." 

Rispy stumbled unsteadily toward the door, slowly getting used to the different balance and feel of his new body. Outside, it was morning, and the sun was shining down brightly over the city of Tijuana Colony. Rispy looked up toward the sun, standing on his own finally and confidently, and smiled broadly. "I think I'm going to like this."


End file.
